


A walk in the park

by fumomoshi



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27555601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumomoshi/pseuds/fumomoshi
Relationships: Ryoji/Yuu





	A walk in the park

“That will be a hundred,” the middle-aged shopkeeper said, handing over a bottle of sugared green tea to Ryoji. Sugared green tea is hard to come by in Japan, and he is thankful that the shop always has them in stock.

“Thanks,” he forced a smile. At this point, it has become a habit. He is thankful for the green tea, of course, but not enough to break into a natural smile. He knows it makes most people happy, as his brother had taught him growing up. The shopkeeper smiled back. That made him a little happier, affirming that his brother was right. He pocketed the change and took a swig from the bottle, while taking a breath of the cool autumn air. It was damp, filled with the smell of fallen leaves. A melancholic atmosphere hung in the air. Ryoji loved it.

He had been to the park at his university many times. Maybe too many times. One would think that he would be sick of the place by now, but Ryoji always found himself drawn to the same collection of shrubs, flowers and trees that he had seen all year round. In a way, he felt comfort knowing that they were always there to greet him, dawn or dusk. Not that he did not appreciate the things in his room of course, but at times it gets deary and stuffy. He needed the fresh cool autumn air.

Autumn is the best. If he were to rank the seasons, autumn would probably be number one on his list. That is, unless it rains. On him, that is. He could enjoy the long gloomy autumn rain as long as he stays nice and comfortable indoors, maybe while enjoying a nice warm cup of mocha at his side. Getting rained on during autumn was the worst. It takes forever to dry up, maybe because of the lack of sun. Right, the lack of sun can get a little depressing after awhile.

Maybe spring is better than autumn. There is sun. The flowers are blooming and the landscapes are prettier in general. When it comes to spring though, his strongest memory seemed to be being indoor. Oh, right. He gets hay fever easily. He always forgets about it. Luckily it was springtime when he picked his dormitory room; he chose the one furthest from nature, which saddens him even today.

Perhaps winter is better? He used to dislike winter, but ever since he moved here, he had experienced more snow than rain during this season. Having snow on him was much less annoying than being drenched. Sure, walking around could be a little troublesome but, the sight of snow outlining trees, buildings and landscapes was truly a majestic sight to behold! If only he were not numb half the time from the cold. There were days where his fingers would scream at him to hurry home.

What about summer? The blistering heat always comes to mind when people spoke of summer, but was that worse than the numbing cold of winter, being confined in a room in spring, or enduring the soggy muddy rain of autumn? From that perspective, summer did not seem too bad. The weather was warm, but at least it was predictably warm. In fact, a lot of his fonder memories of school was during the summer break, where he would hang out with friends.

That conclusion came as a surprise to Ryoji. He would have thought that summer was not close to being comparable with the other three seasons. Perhaps it was the combination of heat and hanging out with friends that always left him in low energy. There were many days where he wished that he was left alone to chill, or to work on his projects. He has so many instruments to learn, while most of his friends only have one. Sometimes he wished that he had stuck to his piano instead of pursuing the conductor course.

He sat at the bench near the pond where a few ducks were swimming. A couple of squirrels who were idling at the foot of the bench ran away into the trees. Ryoji mentally apologized to them for intruding into their business. Maybe they were lovers just going out on a date. He needed to sit though. His legs were aching too much from all the aimless walking.

He stretched his legs, letting the muscle knots free. Despite his age and youthful look, Ryoji felt that he has the aching body of an old man. He was never good at sports, or keen to work out. If not for his brother taking care of him during the time before he left home for university, he figured that his health would be a sorry state by now. The last time he ran was a couple of months ago, during summer at the beach. He chased Yuu around in the sun for a bottle of iced water which he refused to hand over because ‘Ryoji didn’t even touch the sun!’. Yuu, who was much fitter than him, ran circles (okay, maybe two circles) around him until Ryoji collapsed from exhaustion. He chuckled. _Maybe I should ask him to take me out for exercise._

A chill wind blew into Ryoji’s face, carrying the cold moist air from the pond. He shivered a little. The sun was setting early, and it was beginning to become dark. _Just a few more minutes,_ Ryoji decided, measuring the contents of his bottle of green tea by its weight, _after I’m done with this drink._

He looked into the dark gloomy sky as he felt the temperature slowly fall. Summer at the beach sounds good right about now. He loved looking at the white sand and the blue sky, and listening to the sound of waves crashing, all while being comfortable under the shade.

“So Ryoji, which one of the girls do you fancy?” Yuu asked, gesturing to their female classmates in bikinis at the distance. He paused for a moment before adding, “Or guys, if you swing that way. I won’t judge you, I promise.”

Ryoji remembered being flustered, almost choking on the piece of squid that he had been chewing in his mouth. he had never looked at any of his classmates that way, guy or girl. And what did Yuu mean by ‘like’? Someone Ryoji would consider dating? Ryoji would say that none of them were close enough to him to even consider dating, which made him a little sad about his social life.

“No, silly. I meant looks!” Yuu laughed at him. “You think too much, Ryoji. You are starting to sound like an old geezer. Life’s too short to not enjoy what’s around you. C’mon, I know you have lots of opinions. What about Sayaka-chan?”

They talked for a long time. Ryoji simply said whatever was in his mind. He said that he found Sayaka cute for her energy, that the foreign student Alex has a good-looking face and that the athletic Mayu-san, in a lower voice, ‘sexy when she works out sometimes’.

Yuu, as promised, did not judge. He never did, only nodding approvingly as Ryoji spoke and occasionally giving surprised responses. Ryoji was always grateful for that. It felt like he could tell Yuu anything. He thought that this must be why Yuu is popular amongst students and teachers. He’s so nice. He never hesitates to approach someone to lend a listening ear. He should be a conductor, not Ryoji.

“So, say, hypothetically, if Mayu asks you out, would you accept?” Yuu asked.

“Ehh…she wouldn’t,” Ryoji said. “And even if she did, we aren’t even that close so I’ll probably say no.”

“I see,” Yuu laughed. He laughs a lot, not that Ryoji’s complaining.

“So if I asked you out, that would be okay?” Yuu asked. Ryoji could still see the soft smirk on his face when he said that. “I kid!” Yuu laughed, throwing an arm over Ryoji and drew him close before he could reply. “You should’ve seen the look on your face!” He said, teasingly poking Ryoji’s cheek with a finger.

The memory was still fresh in Ryoji’s mind, replaying vividly again and again like a broken tape recorder. Maybe it was because he was not used to physical contact. Or maybe it was because he was not used to being in such close proximity with another person.

Ryoji knew the main reason though. It was because it’s Yuu. He wondered what would happen if he answered the question before Yuu could interrupt him. Would Yuu turn him down? That would break his heart. But what if he said yes? What happens then? Do they go out on dates? The endless scenarios would constantly play out in his mind. To make things worse, he could see them play out in every music piece he was studying.

Ryoji shook his head and slumped back onto the back of the bench, frustrated. He had decided to take this walk to get rid of the thoughts, but it looked like it did not help at all.

“Argh, I can’t!” Ryoji let out.

“You can’t what?”

Ryoji jumped at the all too familiar voice from behind. “Y-Yuu! You startled me!”

“Apparently!” Yuu chuckled. “So you can’t what? You can tell big brother Yuu.”

Ryoji frowned, unsure where Yuu got this concept of ‘big brother’. “I’m older than you, you know.” Ryoji said.

“Only by a few months,” Yuu said.

Ryoji was not sure if there were any other indications of age. Maybe he was talking about height. Yuu’s slightly taller than him, though not by much. He only seemed taller because he had a better posture.

“I somehow thought I’d find you here. It felt like a ‘Ryoji’ kind of weather. It’s so ‘Ryoji’ that I thought I might even find many of you running around,” he gave a laugh. “Turns out I was right. Finding one of you, that is, not many.”

“That’s silly!” Ryoji laughed back. The thought of many versions of him walking around in the park drinking sugared green tea sounded so wildWhat was he even going to say to them? and hilarious. The shopkeeper would enjoy making more money though.

“So, what was that ‘Argh! I can’t!’ all about?” Yuu asked again, mimicking Ryoji’s voice badly, most likely on purpose.

“It’s nothing. Just homework stuff.” Ryoji lied. There were still some things he could not tell Yuu after all.


End file.
